Indians top amongst foreign ascenders in Everest expedition

The Department of Tourism of Nepal on Thursday released the number of expedition permits and the number of successful ascends of Mount Everest.

Out of the 563 successful climbers from 39 different countries, the number of Nepali climbers standing atop the world's highest peak is recorded at 302 which included altitude worker/guide/sirdar, the data from the Department of Tourism showed. A total of 514 Nepali climbers had acquired the permission for the expedition during the spring season this year.

Amongst the foreigners who successfully ascended Everest this season are Indians. The number of Indian climbers stood atop with 51 successful ascends. This included seven successful ascends by female Indian climbers and 44 by male Indian climbers.

A total of 59 Indian nationals had acquired the permission to scale the world's highest peak. Just one female and seven male climbers failed to ascend Mount Everest.

Meanwhile, 49 American climbers successfully climbed Everest, followed by 47 successful ascends by Chinese climbers. A total of five deaths occurred in the expedition which opened on May 13, after the icefall doctors fixed the ropes en route to the mountain.

Nepal's tourism department that record ascends from the Nepali side has fixed USD 11,000 as the royalty for the expeditors to reach atop Mount Everest from the normal route during the spring season. The climbers would need to pay a royalty of USD 10,000 for using the other route to reach the world's highest peak.

With the ending of the spring season ascend for this year, the Nepal Government collected a sum of Rs. 361 million in royalty in 2018.

--ANI